circle, a library of seeds may be humanity’s only hope for botanical salvation.

Hi everyone, Crystal here for DNews with some good news about the apocalypse. It’s probably

already here but the earth’s plants may survive and through them, humans could too.

If we draw an analogy between the apocalypse and a rapid, mass extinction of the number

and variety of living things on Earth; we may just be the middle of one. Mass extinctions,

like the one that killed the Dinosaurs, are characterized by a narrowing of biodiversity

due to environmental change. And some scientists say that’s happening right now. Estimates

place the current rate of extinction of plants and animals at anywhere from 100 to 1000 times

faster than our recent geological past, and this rate appears poised to increase as 1)

our globe continues to warm, 2) human populations continue to expand, and 3) geographical regions

continue to be devastated by wars and natural disaster.

Humans have been concerned about protecting the earth’s biodiversity since biblical

times. Why else would we have a story about animals lining up 2 by 2 to be preserved on

a giant ark? “Biodiversity” refers to the number and variety of living species within

an ecosystem. And this variety, specifically among plants, is crucial for human survival

since plants are the source of our nutrients and energy, as well as providing shelter and

the starting point for many medicines.

Seed banks, like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, are one way to preserve the biodiversity

of commercially significant crops, and of wild native plants. These libraries of seeds

can be used to reintroduce species into existing habitats, or to strengthen genetically depleted

populations. But, maintaining a one stop shop of viable seeds can be costly and challenging.

Recognizing the need for a more secure, global effort, an organization called The Crop Trust,

with support from many well known private foundations, has stepped in. Their most dramatic

program maintains an enormous warehouse with the capacity to house a cache of 4.5 million

varieties of seeds. Located on a Norwegian island north of the arctic circle, this vault

is envisioned as a fail safe; a back-up to smaller more local seed banks.

And in fact, that is exactly how it is being used. The first and only seed withdrawal was

made by Syria who used seeds they had previously deposited in Svalbard to reconstruct a seed

bank recently destroyed by civil war.

Currently, more than 864,000 species of plant life from over 100 countries are being preserved

within the cold, dry interior of this vault. And its contents are estimated to approach

half of the known macroflora like trees and grains, on the planet. As this is a global

project with diplomatic implications, concerns over seed ownership have naturally arisen.

For now, the vault acts as a high tech storage facility, filtering out possible genetic duplications

in deposits but also ensuring that only the original depositor will have access to their

contribution. This restriction is to protect the library of heirloom seeds from exploitation

and for-profit manipulation by biotech companies or agribusiness.

Not everyone agrees that locking up the seeds to every known plant on earth is the way to

go. Some critics say, libraries like these are just historical records, offering simply

a snapshot in evolutionary time, and that the plants preserved by this method would

have a low chance of survival after reintroduction. Plants resulting from the preserved seeds

wouldn’t have had a chance to evolve with the demands of their environment and they

may lack resistance to modern pests and disease.

Opponents of the seed bank approach often focus on commercial crops and advocate for

preservation of seed diversity in the fields. This in situ preservation requires the long-term

cooperation of farming communities to cultivate a variety of the same crops over generations.

But, for example, with emphasis on profit, it seems unlikely farmers would be able or

willing to keep growing every known variety of corn if they were only making big money

on one. Debate continues as to which path is best.

Large libraries of genetic diversity like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault inspire the

imagination. Will astronauts of the future be eating ancient forms of terrestrial plants

that just happen to survive the demands of space? The existence of home grown lettuce

on the International Space Station says “maybe”. Certainly, select microflora like cyanobacteria

will have a one way ticket to Mars when the time comes. Evolution needs a starting point,

and whether it is a seed bank or a library of biodiversity with galactic significance,

when it comes to life, more is better. And may the best seed win.